president obama used his final news conference of his first term to demand that congress raise this country's debt limit, warning lawmakers not to play politics with, quote, the full and faith credit of the united states. the treasury department says the u.s. has until march to increase the nation's borrowing limit. otherwise, the country will likely default on its loans. republicans do not seem to be in the mood to negotiate after compromising on the so-called fiscal cliff last month. the gop says it will only raise the debt limit if there are equal dollar for dollar cuts in spending. otherwise, many republican lawmakers have threatened to force a shutdown of the government or let the country default on its loans and hurt its credit rating. the president this morning says that is unacceptable. >> a self-inflicted wound on the economy. it would slow down our growth, might tip us into recession. and ironically, would probably increase our deficit. >> reporter: and it would, the president warned, delay checks for social security and veterans' benefits. the president also said he would soon ask